South Africa

Kekana on playing Chiefs at FNB – It’s not as intimidating

‘We’ve gained a lot of experience from playing in Caf (games),’ said the Sundowns defender.

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Grant Kekana was calm as ever ahead of Saturday’s Betway Premiership clash with Kaizer Chiefs away at FNB Stadium. 

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Sundowns favourites but Chiefs look strong

The Brazilians are favourites to claim all three points. But Amakhosi will not go down without a fight, after back-to-back wins.

Expect Chiefs fans to outnumber their Yellow Nation counterparts in the stands. The match could well be a sold-out affair. The last time Sundowns made the short trip to Soweto to play Chiefs, they ran out 5-1 winners and Kekana is confident of yet another happy outing at the iconic stadium.

“I don’t think it’s as intimidating, we’ve gained a lot of experience from playing in Caf (games),” Kekana confidently said when asked about the reception that awaits them at the stadium that hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. 

“There are a lot of hostile teams and we’ve been to Cairo so it’s something that we’re used to. It’s going to be a tough game because Kaizer Chiefs are doing well right now and their rebuilding phase is looking very good but we trust and believe in our process as well.”

Kekana has no doubts over Manqoba

Masandawana’s change in fortunes has seen them go on a winning run of four matches after crashing out of the semifinals of the MTN8. Manqoba Mngqithi, who took over from Rulani Mokwena, did come under heavy criticism for the defeats to Stellenbosch FC. 

“I don’t know who doubted him (Mngqithi) but I’ve been working with him since I came to Sundowns, we understand him and we know what he wants from us,” Kekana added. 

“It was just about us firing and I think we’re almost where we want to be but there’s still a lot of work to do.

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“The only difference is that we weren’t scoring in the MTN8 so we’re happy that there’s improvement in that aspect. We’re getting the rub of the green now – even in games against Stellenbosch, we missed a whole lot of chances, now the only difference is that we are converting.

“It’s going to help us going forward because the league might need goal difference, who knows. It’s good for us that we are capitalising early and burying chances early so that we can take control of the game.”